


lover's pond (ambush)

by aquaticflames



Series: sunset firefly [6]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Battle Scenes, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Minor Injuries, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric, it isn't graphic either. just take heed, its... kinda minor? in the sense that it isn't life threatening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:27:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28966836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquaticflames/pseuds/aquaticflames
Summary: Wild slid from the grassy bank of the pond, inching closer to the fish, gently wafting the water to bring himself within lunging range.But before he’d had the chance to make a move, it frantically darted away. But that can’t have been him, right? He’d caught fish this way hundreds of times before. What was different here?His question was abruptly, violently answered in the next moment. Before he could blink. Before he couldbreathe.
Series: sunset firefly [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115921
Comments: 20
Kudos: 244





	lover's pond (ambush)

**Author's Note:**

> this is a loose continuation from the [first prompt](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28854558) in this series, but reading that one isn't necessary. just adds a little flavour. :)
> 
> this was originally meant to be for the prompt 'explosion', but it fits so much better with the eighth prompt 'ambush'. so i decided to combine them. I _can_ do that right? I'm gonna do that.
> 
> sorry for the delay again! this uni coursework is kicking by butt. hope you enjoy, this one is a little longer because i had so much fun with it. ♡

Sunset had been steadily approaching as the group trekked across Faron, the promise of a seaside village and warm food tantalisingly close yet just out of reach. Time had called camp for the night, directing the group to climb up and out of the exposed Atun Valley and onto a lush wooded outcrop halfway up Tuft mountain. The area was gorgeous in the evening - elevated enough to catch the warmth of the pinkened sky, but with enough trees around to give them decent foliage cover, the last few hours of sunlight dappled over the grass where the group was rolling out bedrolls and cobbling together a fire.

Wild still wanted to venture further up the hillside, though. He had fond memories of Lover’s pond, only at the crest of the mountain they’d sought refuge on, and knew he’d be able to catch some fish there.

“I don’t see why not, as long as you take someone with you.” Time had said, glancing over the group. “Anyone want to go gathering further up the mountain? Wild needs someone with him.”

Four perked up, dumping his remaining bedding atop his bedroll and walking over, sword at his hip. “Sure, I kinda wanted a better view of the sunset anyway.”

Wild nodded, pleased. “It looks amazing from Lover’s Pond.”

“ _Lover’s_ pond?” Warriors called, catching the tail-end of their discussion. “Oh, well now I have to go, don’t I?”

They all laughed, Legend scowling with a terrific eye roll and shoving the captain in the chest, putting distance between them. “Get outta here, you’re just a nerd who wants to see some pretty clouds too.”

“Hey, nothing wrong with appreciating a good view.” Warriors retorted, winking and strolling over to join the foragers. Legend mimed gagging behind his back, Wind putting so much energy into trying not to laugh that his eyes were watering.

Wild rolled his own eyes and turned to walk up the mountain, Four snickering beside him and quickly catching up. Warriors wasn’t fooling _them_ , though. He was just tagging along to keep the two of them safe, in line with Time’s expectations - but it was always fun to push Legend’s buttons, so they let it slide.

The climb was nothing to scoff at, being relatively steep and all - but it was nothing compared to Wild’s usual ventures. Not that he’d _ever_ let Twilight catch wind of that; The less his mentor knew about the frequency of his near-vertical climbs, the better.

He heard a desperate shout from behind. When he turned around to check on the other two, camp already far below him, he saw Four scrambling up another few feet before flopping over and Warriors bent double, hands on his knees.

“You guys beat?” He called, smirking at the indignant cries and maniacal cackling he got in return, and jogged the rest of the way up to the top of Tuft Mountain.

It really was a stunning view; Four was going to love it when he finally managed to reach the summit. Wild walked around the edge of Lover’s Pond, took his shoes off and let his feet sway in the water as he perched on the edge, cool and soothing on his aching feet.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted movement from further in the pond. A ripple radiating out from a few feet in front of him. Shielding his eyes from the evening glare, he tried to make out what species of fish it was; just distinguishable was a set of glittering grey scales, with a firey yellow underbelly and green-hued dorsal fin. 

A hearty salmon! Perfect, he was beginning to run low. 

Wild let himself slide from the grassy bank of the pond, trying to disturb the water as little as possible. It didn’t really matter if his clothes got wet at this point, they’d be back at camp soon where he could lay them out to dry. They probably needed a wash anyway.

Gradually he let himself inch closer to the fish, keeping his arms out to the side and gently wafting the water to bring himself within lunging range. Before he’d even had the chance to make a proper move toward his prey, though, it inexplicably darted away to the opposite end of the pond, tail beating frantically as it tried to put distance between itself and his side of the pond as _fast_ as possible.

But that can’t have been him, right? He’d caught fish this way hundreds of times before. What was different here?

His question was abruptly, _violently_ answered in the next moment. Before he could blink. Before he could _breathe._

In a spot on the grass behind him, the local air suddenly compressed inward with a heated glow, before exploding outward in a rush of air and noise. Just as he shielded himself from the hot blast of air - salmon completely forgotten - an inked slip of paper twisted past him in the air, landing on the pond’s surface and immediately taking on water, sinking away.

 _Yiga_.

He whirled around, instantly assessing his opponent and working out his chances. They... weren’t good. At all. Over on the grass, right in front of the scrawny Yiga Clan footsoldier, lay his sword, slate and boots. _He_ was currently chest-deep in the goddessdamned Lover’s Pond, and his friends were about to crest the hill and walk right into unnecessary danger. 

He was out of time though. The telltale creak of a bow being drawn back cut through his thoughts, and all of a sudden Wild realised he’d have to fall back on an old, but desperate strategy.

He dove sideways into the pond with a splash, twisting beneath the water to watch as two arrows broke the surface and plunged through the pond inches from him, quickly losing all momentum and floating down with a pathetic wobble. He snatched them out of the water, kicking towards the footsoldier and dodging another pair of shots before lunging out of the pond.

The two scrounged arrows clutched in his grip, Wild brought them down hard on the Yiga’s foot and gritted his teeth against the horrible shriek that rang through the air as a result. No matter, he was now close enough to seize his sword lying mere feet away. He abandoned his sloppy assault in favour of scrambling fully from the water and _crawling_ towards his broadsword. 

He felt truly stupid; Wild had beaten the Yiga soldiers time and time again. There was no _way_ he was going to die here, in Lover’s pond at the hands of a footsoldier because he’d been chest-deep in water trying to fish for _salmon._

A searing pain stabbed deep into his shoulder from behind, and it was all he could do not to cry out. Wild seized his weapon and put his whole weight into swinging it around into the legs of the footsoldier.

“Wild?!” 

_Shit_.

Across the hilltop, Warriors and Four were at last silhouetted against a sunset that - under _literally_ any other circumstances - would have been a sight to stop and behold. They were on guard, swords raised but clearly out of breath. 

“ _Go,_ ” Wild gasped out. “Get back to camp!”

But the universe had different plans. Just when he held out hope for his friends to get back to safety, he heard the telltale whistle of air being spontaneously compressed and heated - from _three_ directions - before he was bombarded on all sides by an explosion of rushing air and fluttering paper notes.

 _Three_ more joined the ranks of the Yiga footsoldier bearing down on him; two more lanky clansman, and a towering Blademaster. What was going on? The Yiga had never ambushed him like this before. 

Wild’s mind went _blank_ with panic. His moment of inattention nearly cost him, as did the arrow still piercing into his shoulder; Another two went whizzing past his head and he was forced to put weight on his bad arm to avoid them, muscles screaming in protest. 

This had to end. _Now._

Wild threw all caution to the wind. From his crouched position on the ground, he put all his weight behind the hilt of the sword and sent it cutting forward through the air. With a horrid yell after failing to dodge in time, the air around the first footsoldier compressed, heating and glowing once more before ricocheting outwards in a blast that knocked Wild back and allowed the Yiga clansman to escape. 

Gritting his teeth, he spared a single second to glance at Warriors, the only one still in the vicinity. He was being completely ignored by the clansmen, the remaining three advancing on Wild and Wild alone. A bow drawn, a demon carver winding up, and the glint of a Windcleaver catching his eye.

“Get the Hero!” The Blademaster commanded, and the world _erupted_ into movement.

Wild catapulted himself towards the Yiga with the Demon Carver, two arrows sinking into the earth where he’d just been crouched. His broadsword knocked the cleaver across the grass, spinning out of range and tumbling to the grass as he rammed the assassin’s chest _hard_ with his good shoulder. The man went sprawling, disarmed, allowing Wild to return his focus to the other two for the time being.

His stomach dropped when he spotted the captain about to engage the Blademaster, sword poised for attack. “Oi! Over here, banana-brains!” Wild shouted, backing towards the pond and drawing four gazes, Warriors’ included. He could only pray to Hylia that the captain would get the hint. _Please don’t get hurt. Just go for the footsoldiers. Please._

The largest assassin pulled out a strategy Wild was all too used to dealing with. Compressed air forced its way under the earth towards him, erupting in a spout of hot steam that filled the sails of his paraglider and sent him soaring high above the battlefield. The champion let himself swoop low towards the Blademaster before wishing his paraglider back into storage and swinging his sword down to crack over the ceramic face mask obscuring his attacker's identity. 

Wild knew the Windcleaver was going to be brought arching towards him before anyone had moved, leaping backwards with a painful twist that pulled his bad shoulder, time slowing and muting the din of the skirmish all at once. 

He saw Warriors not far off, cutting down the footsoldier with the bow - the other mid-scramble across the grass for his Demon Carver. He examined the Blademaster, splintered mask barely held in place and a ferocity to his swing rarely seen in the Yiga. And there was Four, hair flying in every direction as he came sprinting back into view with two people in tow. _Twi and Time._

The clock was still ticking, though - his flurry rush wasn’t normally spent making sure his companions were safe. The champion managed two savage strikes to the Blademaster’s sword arm with his broadsword before the rushing wind and howl of battle caught up with him. Wild landed in a crouch, watching as his would-be-assassin simply passed the Windcleaver to his other hand.

Wild couldn’t help it. He _laughed_ incredulously; Of course the Blademaster was ambidextrous. _Just his bloody luck_.

With his mentor and their leader now joining the fray though, the fight never would have lasted much longer. Twilight tore through the attackers with a ferocity rarely seen in the well-tempered stablehand, teeth bared in a frightening growl - Time covering his blind spots from behind with practiced ease. Warriors’ footsoldier had already retreated in a rush of hot air, leaving his bow discarded on the grass and a confused-looking captain holding a bunch of… _bananas?_

Four had already managed to kick the pronged carver away from the last footsoldier, playing a hilariously morbid game of ‘keep the sharp weapon away from the trained assassin’.

That just left the towering Blademaster to Wild, who was favouring one arm as much as Wild was now. They were both leaving spots of blood dotting the grass, both keeping a firm grip on their swords. _Fitting_.

The Yiga moved first, slicing upwards through the air and sending a ray of hot air cutting towards him. The champion stepped out of its path, skidding on the wet grass and beginning a dead sprint forward. They whirled in a battle of clashing blades, parrying and weaving, deftly dodging and dancing around each other. 

But Wild wasn’t aiming to land a hit. He put all his effort into evasion, making the Blademaster chase after him as he gradually backed towards Lover’s pond. The other heroes might have found it comical had they not been following Wild’s practiced movements like a hawk, watching him move in a blur with complete disregard for the injuries littering his body.

The mercenary put his entire weight into one last mighty swing, missing Wild by an _inch_ when the boy tumbled into an evasive roll and the tallest of the Yiga attackers went careening into the heart-shaped pond with an almighty splash. 

Wild wasted no time at all. His plan had paid off, and he wasn’t going to waste it. He dove for his slate, scrambled on screen for the shining blue rune, and in the next moment the heroes were being _drenched_ by an explosion of pond water and kelp. The four assisting heroes straightened up from shielding their faces against the torrent of water and were met with an empty pond. 

Instead, a bunch of bananas floated in the middle, bobbing up and down on the rippling surface.

Silence fell over the mountaintop. As one, Warriors, Four, and the two latecomers all turned to Wild - stood at the edge of the pond. The boy had an arrow still sticking out of his shoulder, a slash across his cheek, and a steam burn twisting up his shin. He looked like _shit_ , sopping wet and covered in grass stains, so none of them were really surprised when his knees buckled out from underneath him.

“Woah, cub! Steady,” Twilight soothed, jogging forward to help his protege sit down, Wild’s sword falling to the grass with a thud. Four was immediately at his side too, examining the arrow wound with a grimace.

He let Twilight fuss over him for a few minutes, signing with some difficulty his honest answers to the stablehand’s concerned assessment of his injuries. _Yes_ , his shoulder hurt like a bitch. _No_ , the burn isn’t that bad. So what’s wrong? _Twi, I’m fucking exhausted_.

"Wild, we’re not grilling you for answers right now.” Warriors said, coming over with Time. “Just tell us. Is it still safe for us to camp here?”

He nodded, getting to his feet gingerly. _‘They don’t attack twice in the same area.’_ He explained, hobbling into the pond to gather the clansman’s spoils and gesturing for Four to do the same over on the grass. _‘They aren’t that smart. It’d probably catch me_ more _unaware if they did.’_

“Okay,” Time said, his gaze hard and tired. Wild felt more than a little guilty, having drawn the four of them away from a restful evening. “Let’s just get back to camp. And Wild?” 

The boy turned to their leader, nervously scuffing a bare foot against the bottom of the pond, still knee-deep in water. To his surprise, Time spared him a fond smile.

“I think you managed to kill a salmon or three towards the end there. Why don’t you grab them for dinner?”

o~O~o

Wild would never admit how good it felt to be sat on his bedroll again, feet stretched out in front of him and hands fiddling in lap. He was still damp and soggy - they _all_ were; It was kind of funny watching Time and Warriors trying to sort their hair out, actually - but first on the group’s list of things to prioritise was dealing with the arrow that was _still_ lodged in his shoulder.

He wasn’t even sure he could feel it there anymore, and it only ached when he moved his left arm. Had he still been travelling alone, Wild would have just yanked it out and been forced to awkwardly patch it up, but Twilight was aiming a dangerous look his way clearly daring him to try anything stupid instead of letting Sky and Hyrule cobble together a solution.

They eventually settled on the only solution; getting it out, and having him down a potion or two. It wasn’t like they could leave the arrowhead in, either. It was still sharp after all.

Wild trained all his focus onto Legend when it happened - who was attempting to wrangle his hands over Wind’s eyes. It was the best available distraction he had from the excruciating pain of it all. Their sailor was positively _furious_ that he managed to miss the gore, ranting at the shit-eating grin on the veteran’s face; When Time raised his eye to the heavens, seemingly asking the very stars above to grant him divine patience, Wild couldn’t help but snort a laugh.

Patched up and wrapped in blankets with the salmon now cooking by the fire, Wild knew he couldn’t avoid the barrage of questions any longer. He probably should have told the group sooner that he frequently dealt with an assassin clan _hellbent_ on killing him, but it didn't matter now. He couldn't undo the past; he would just have to explain to the best of his abilities. 

“If my assumption is correct,” Time began, drawing his own eyes up from the letter he had been writing - setting it aside now that the group had all sat down to discuss the evening’s ambush. “And I’m sure you’ve come to the same conclusion, pup-” He added, inclining his head toward his protege who sat beside Wild’s bundle of blankets. Twilight only nodded in return, a frown drawn across his face. “-Then _that,_ was the Yiga Clan, correct?”

Wild nodded, letting his chin sink to rest on his knees.

“But who _are_ they?” Hyrule asked, nervous and tightly-wound. “-To come out of nowhere like that, and just disappear again? Warriors said they seemed to explode before vanishing into thin air!”

Wild was struggling to know where to begin. It wasn’t a simple story by any means, and what was the best place to start from without alarming the others?

“They appeared slowly, sometime between the Calamity of ten thousand years ago, and the one last century. No-one knows for sure when they broke away from the Sheikah, but either way it doesn’t matter.” He sighed, beginning to feel nervous about sharing the details with the heroes who had become his family in all but blood. “People began fearing their advanced technology, and the ones who didn’t slip away to live quiet lives became bitter, and essentially turned on the kingdom.”

“So they’re Ganon-sympathisers?” Legend spat, looking disgusted - arms crossed and shoulders tense. His gaze was unnerving, and Wild could only nod.

“That doesn’t explain why they attacked us like that.” Warriors sat forward from his slouch against a tree, searching Wild for answers. “They came out of nowhere.”

“It does.” 

Everyone turned to Twilight. The stablehand’s eyes were downcast, before they rose to meet the cautious look Wild was sending him. The champion’s mentor moved to brace a supportive hand against his shoulder. “Because anything that opposes Ganon, opposes them, right?”

Time’s sigh did nothing to conceal his concern. “And that means you have a price on your head, right?”

Wind’s jaw dropped, and beside him Sky looked faintly ill. “So they’re- what, they want to assassinate you?”

“We just fought with sheikah _mercenaries?_ ” Four whispered.

“Yep.” Wild said, trying to lighten the mood with a casual stretch of his arms and a light chuckle. “Not just me though. They’ll take a decent crack at Zelda whenever they can get the chance. Not that they ever got past me.”

Everyone was clamouring to discuss the news, voices steadily rising from a general hush. Through the energy of it all, Legend just shook his head in disbelief, pointing a look somewhere between fond and exasperated at the Champion. Wild returned a wobbly smile of his own, sheepish.

“Well if any of us were going to be wanted man, it was going to be _you_.” The veteran chuckled, getting to his feet across from Wild and ruffling his hair as he stepped past them on the way to his pack.

“I know right?! That’s so cool, Wild.” Wind was saying, eyes shining much to Time’s dismay. “How many times have they come at you? Five? Ten?”

Wild couldn’t help it. He let out a hysterically nervous laugh, sneaking glances at his mentor and their leader. The waves of displeasure radiating from both of them was the clearest warning of incoming reprimand he’d ever received. 

“Well- uh… not that many times?” He tried, astutely ignoring all the adults in the vicinity. “T-The fish must be almost done, come help me serve it up.”

As they doled out helpings of fish and roasted vegetables, Four leaned over to the cook and lowered his voice, conspiratorial. “You don’t need help taking them down, do you? If anyone can take down a cult, it’s probably us nine.”

“Oh no,” Wild replied, light and happy as he spooned extra cheese sauce onto Hyrule’s plate. “-Don’t worry about that. I infiltrated their base and took down the cult leader like… ages ago now.”

Wind sprayed peas all over the grass in front of him, eyes bugging out of his head. “YOU TOOK DOWN THE CULT’S LEADER SINGLE-HANDEDLY?” He cried, clearly having eavesdropped on their conversation. 

Wild froze, ladle halfway back to the pot. “Um-” The champion gulped. Already, he could feel Twilight’s gaze melting through his cloak and beginning to _sear_ at the hairs on the back of his neck. Wild shrunk into himself. “Which answer gets me into the _least_ trouble?”

Time chuckled, blue eye twinkling. “I’d cut your losses, cub.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments are always appreciated. ♡
> 
> me: isn't well-versed in writing combat.  
> also me: let's write a crap-tonne of combat.
> 
> next one might be delayed again! so stay tuned for that whenever it appears.


End file.
